Under Sheriff John J. Ellis left Elko by stage on February 8, 1874.
He was headed for Cornucopia, a silver mining town in northern Elko County,
to serve some legal papers. By the time his business there was finished,
the stage line was not running due to snow. He was stuck in town for a
couple of weeks. Ellis decided to walk back to Elko. He carried four blankets,
a heavy overcoat, a few days' provisions, and a pair of crudely made snowshoes
crafted from a table top.

Early in the afternoon of March 1, Ellis, walking south, met Ness Jansen
carrying mail to Cornucopia. They were about two miles south of Coryell's,
an abandoned station. Both were on snowshoes. Jansen told Ellis that he
had left several day's supplies at Adobe, another deserted station, 11
miles south.

An hour or so after they departed company, a fierce snowstorm hit and
continued with only slight breaks for 48 hours. The mail carrier made it
to Coryell's where he stayed until the storm passed. He then trudged 14
miles to Taylor's. The following day he arrived at Cornucopia, spent a
day there, loaded the mail in his pack, strapped on his snowshoes and started
the 65-mile return trip back to Elko.

He was back in Elko by March 15. Jansen mentioned he had seen Ellis
15 days before. There had been no communication with Cornucopia for two
weeks. With the ferocity of the snow storms, most everyone thought the
law man had stayed in the mining camp until the weather cleared.

Now, there was reason to fear for the fate of the popular under sheriff.
Search parties were sent out to scour the area where Ellis was last seen
by Jansen. They found no trace of the law man. Knowing the chances of finding
him alive were nil but hoping against hope, groups regularly searched the
Adobe-Coryell section of road. They found nothing.

Two months later, on May 16, the Elko Independent reported that Lute
Dorsey, while hunting for cattle, found Ellis' crude snowshoes standing
against a rock. The site was about two miles west of Adobe, toward Susie
Creek. Dorsey looked around and found two places, about one quarter of
a mile apart, where someone had camped. A Mrs. Swayles, who lived on Susie
Creek, found a piece of blanket similar to one belonging to Ellis.

A late bulletin in the Independent announced that his body was found
about four hundred yards from where Dorsey discovered the snowshoes. It
had been a long somber wait for those who had been searching for several
weeks.

He had been agonizingly close to help - just a mile and a half from
the Swayles' home where was warmth and food. His hands and knees were bound
with pieces of his blankets trying to keep them from freezing. He struggled
through the deep snow until all hope was gone. Ellis spread his blankets,
rolled his coat up for a pillow, and laid down to die.

When found, the body had not been disturbed. There were $142 in coin
and $20 in bills. This tallied with the journal found on his remains. Ellis
had placed his empty pistol under his head. They discovered no ammunition
or matches. Four of his camping places were found and none showed any evidence
of a camp fire.

Members of the Masonic Lodge buried Under Sheriff John J. Ellis. Hundreds
of people who knew and respected him turned out for the funeral in the
lodge hall and his burial in the Elko Cemetery. His tombstone remains:

SACRED
To the memory of
John J. Ellis,
Who was lost in a snow storm
March 1, 1874
Aged 48 Years.

How did he get to northeast Nevada and meet with a dreadful death at
age 48?

Ellis was born in Zanesville, Ohio on September 13, 1825. He lived there
until he was 16 then moved to Missouri with his father. In 1849 he left
for California to make his fortune with other gold seekers. Ellis was Sheriff
of Sonoma County for two years. When his term was over, he moved to Petaluma
and operated a livery business. In April 1869, he moved to Elko and ran
a livery stable. When appointed Under Sheriff he gave up his business.
Ellis was elected a School Trustee for Elko County. Surviving him was his
father and brother in California, and a wife and son in Elko.

Elko County was part of the wild and dangerous American West in 1874.
Terrible snow storms, no communication, and wheeled vehicles that couldn't
travel in bad weather combined to take the life of Ellis. It is a mystery
why he left Cornucopia. Was it a desire to get back to his family in Elko?
Or wanting to return to work after sitting in the mining camp doing nothing
but hoping the weather would clear? We will never know. His reasons died
with him in the frozen snow-laden sagebrush.